When the ancient Polynesians invented surfing, they often used a paddle to help them navigate. Fast-forward a few millennia, and Stand-Up Paddleboarding, or SUP, finds itself trendy again. Part of its increasing popularity is that standing upright allows surfers to spot waves more easily and thus catch more of them, multiplying the fun factor. Paddling back to the wave becomes less of a strain as well. The ability to cruise along on flat inland water, surveying the sights, is another advantage. Finally, its a good core workout. If youre sold on the idea, schedule an intro SUP lesson, free with board and paddle rental, and you may find yourself riding the waves like a Polynesian king.More

Many of us remember coming home from our elementary schools with freshly glazed pinchpots, cups, or whatever else our young imaginations could conjure up. Saturday mornings at the Randall Museum can bring that memory back, or create a new one for the youngsters. Ceramics make great gifts — especially on Mothers' and Fathers' Day. Hop on board for the Randall's once-weekly class, and for $6 and two weeks to have your work fired and glazed, you'll have all the materials you need.More

Friday, August 12, 2016

There's something slightly suspicious about the category "fast-casual." Lunch is so rushed, and it's easy to settle for an unsatisfactory meal just to get something in your stomach, that a few buzzwords can lure us in. Fast-casual is the food equivalent of "athleisure," which basically consists of ugly clothes that are too functional too dismiss. (And if everybody else is wearing them, too, who will judge you?)

At its worst, fast-casual can be bloodless and corporatized, and leave you feeling like you got hoodwinked into paying a premium for a glorified Subway foot-long made with the world's palest tomato. But at its best, it's tasty, nutritious, and convenient. Dabba, the SoMa brick-and-mortar concept that evolved out of a food truck dedicated to "ethnic confusions" doesn't feel like anyone convened a focus group to determine what's trendy with the millennials. Rather, it derives from Avatar's, the Indian restaurant in Sausalito where the recipes were never written down.

Thursday, August 11, 2016

In Homeric myth, Odysseus fools Polyphemus the man-eating cyclops by getting him drunk, telling him his name is "Noman," and driving a spear into his eye. When the other cyclopses ask Polyphemus who hurt him, he says, "Noman!" and Odysseys escapes in the confusion.

Meanwhile, Noman Coffee in the Mission has an horchata latte with a slightly more down-to-earth provenance than The Odyssey: It came from one of the baristas' abuelas. Still, the caffeine-filled shipping container that doubles as an art gallery and performance space has a lofty streak worth of its name. The art on the walls and the beer in the taps is edgy, but on a recent morning, instead of Beach House or Phantogram, the music inside came from Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte.

Plus Bon Appetit gives the nod to Leo's Oyster Bar's decor, the East Bay Express profiles the only Michelin-starred chef in Oakland, and SoMa StrEat Food Park combines a Robin Williams Film Festival with Very Vegan Sundays.

Monday, August 8, 2016

Earlier this summer, I was on a family vacation in Colorado when my sister and I walked by a funnel cake stand.

"Here's the thing about funnel cake," I told her. "It always smells amazing, but then I get it and I taste it and it never lives up to my expectations."

Consequently, I have not ordered funnel cake in eight or 10 years. Or, at least I hadn't until last week when I made a visit to the Tenderloin's Huxley, where funnel cake is the culminating item on the dessert menu. If not the piece de resistance, it is at least a notable novelty, with an odd combination of textures and flavors that come from a nest of crisp hot fried batter that encircles a creamy boule of ShakedownSF's hazelnut, chocolate, and coconut milk-based T'Ella sorbet, and sits on dabs of sticky sweet grape jelly. The whole thing is sprinkled with flakes of toasted coconut.

It's hard but not impossible to eat vegetables at Outside Lands. I was very excited to see Radiohead, because OK Computer was the CD that I listened to on repeat-all 1,000 times at the peak of my alienated-adolescent phase, and I'd never seen them live before. Well, Thom Yorke isn't big on the banter — no surprise there — and while I'm really glad they led off with three songs from A Moon Shaped Pool, and I got to sing along to "There There" and "Let Down" at the top of my lungs, as entertainers, there are better acts. In other words, I got some nutrition after all, because watching Radiohead felt like eating my vegetables.

With 100-and-something vendors, Outside Lands's food side has never been bigger. There are mainstays that become an obligatory pilgrimage year after year — hello, porcini mushrooms from Rich Table — but this year, there's lots of new stuff that will make you want to hold your hands palms outward and wiggle all 10 fingers like a cartoon villain, surveying your domain. I didn't get through half my planned eating list on Day 1, but luckily, there's two more days. Here's what Tamara Palmer and I feasted upon on Friday.

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Sub Pop recording artists 'clipping.' brought their brand of noise-driven experimental hip hop to the closing night of 2016's San Francisco Electronic Music Fest this past Sunday. The packed Brava Theater hosted an initially seated crowd that ended the night jumping and dancing against the front of the stage. The trio performed a set focused on their recently released Sci-Fi Horror concept album, 'Splendor & Misery', then delved into their dancier and more aggressive back catalogue, and recent single 'Wriggle'.
Opening performances included local experimental electronic duo 'Tujurikkuja' and computer music artist 'Madalyn Merkey.'"